Improved flour-sifter



" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sEnEUs c. MAiNE, or Eos'roiv, MASsAcHUsErTS.

IMPRovED FLouR-SIFTER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,572, dated J nly 4,1865.

To all 'whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, SEEEUs G. MAINE, ofBoston, in the countyof Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improved Sifter for Sifting Flour and other Articles, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view ot my improvedsifter. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the same when ready toreceive the article to be sifted. Fig. 3 is a transverse section throughthe same, showing the position of the parts when the sifting is beingperformed 3 Fig. 4, detail to be referred to.

That class of iiour-sifters now in general use, where the flour isrubbed over a sieve by means of a revolving or reciprocating shaftprovided y with beaters, rolls, or other similar devices, are

objectionable, as any impurities which may be in the ilour are liable tobe mashed or Vground up and carried throughthe sieve, while the sieveitself is frequently 'broken by nails and other hard substances beingforced through it, and its meshes are also liable to be quickly cloggedor filled up by the rubbing of the flour across it.

Myinvention has for its object to overcome these difficulties; and itconsists in asifting-cylinder composed of independent sections placedone within the other, and operated by a shaft, so that as the shaft isturned they are brought together,'formin g an entire cylinder,which canbe readily opened to admit the article to be sifted.

To 4enable others'skilled in the art to understand andV use myinvention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carriedit out'. y

In the said drawings, A is a box or frame, in

suitable bearings in which is supported the shaft B, which is providedat one end with a handle, c. To this shaft B is secured a semi cylinder,C, the sides of which are of wiregauze, while the. ends are formed ofmetal plates or other suitable material. Within this semi-cylinder Cfits another semi-cylinder, D, of similar construction, but hung looselyon the shaft B, instead of being fast thereon.

b is a iiange projecting inwardfrom one of the upper edges ot' thecylinder C, and c d are similar flanges projecting inward from the upperedges of semi-cylinder D, and thus as the handle a is turned the sectionC will be raised and turned around the section D until its flange bstrikes against the iian ge c,When it is caught and held in place bymeans of a spring-catch, e, thus forming a complete cylinder, the wholebei-ng revolved by the handle a. During the operation of siftin g, thelian ges b c d elevate the flour and throwr it forcibly upon and throughthe opposite side of the cylinder, thus greatly accelerating theoperatiomwhich is performed in a thorough and effectual manner.

E is a tight semi-cylinder or cover, which is hung upon the shaft B, andfits over thesemicylinder (l, a spring, 5, Fig. 4, on which bearsagainst the upper edge of the cover E, so as to cause it to be raised bythe shaft until the edge f comes into contact with the stop y,projecting from the inside ofthe box A, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3; or thecover may be hung loosely on the shaft and thrown over by hand, when theshaft with the sifting-cylinder is revolved without turning thecover,which thus prevents the escape of dust. If preferred, however, thecover E maybe dispensed with, the sides of the box A being raised, so asto prevent the flour or dust being thrown over them.

Instead of the sifting-cylinder being composed of two semi-cylinders itmay be composed of two parts-one a larger section of a cylinder than theother-which,when put together,will form a complete cylinder. Forinstance, the inner section may be two-thirds of a cylinder, while thatwhich is placed outside of it and fastened to the shaft forms one-third,or the cylinder may be composed of three or more separate sections. Y

The operation of the sifter is as follows: The parts being in theposition represented in Fig. 2, the our or other article to be sifted isplaced in the inner section, D, when the handle a is turned,which raisesthe cover E untill it strikes the stop g, the section C being at thesame time raised until the iiange b on its edge strikes against theflange c 011 the edge of the section D,when it is caught and the twosections held together by the spring-catch e, the inner sec tion, D,being loose on the shaft B, remaining in the position seen in Fig. -2until this takes place. The two sections are now revolved together, theflour being elevated bythe flanges l b c d, and thrown against andthrough the op'- posite side ot the cylinder,when it falls into ereceptacle placed to receive it. As soon as the operation is completedthe hand is teken off the crank a, when the coverE falls back into theposition seen in Fig. 2, when the catch eis l unhooked andthesemi-cylinders fall back into the position shown in Fig. 2, and thesieve is ready to be operated as before.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

S.' C) MAINE.

v purpose described.

Witnesses:

P. E. TEscHEMAcHER, N. W. STEARNS.

